Overview
The explosive growth in social media marketing over the past few years has rended scores of carefully crafted corporate websites irrelevant as marketing tools. But don't take our word for it. Just Google it. Analysts, journalists, bloggers and marketing thought-leaders have been singing thi tune for awhile. Jeremiah Owyang started leading the chorus back in 2007 when he was at Forrester Research (he's now at Altimeter Group.). The corporate website is an unbelievable collection of hyperbole, artificial branding, and pro-corporate content, " he said. "As a result, trusted decisions are being made on other locations on the Internet... networks, rating sites, chat rooms, and even blogs."
That may have seemed like a radical notion at the time, but now it seems downright prescient. Today, big brands boast 10-20 million "likers" on their Facebook pages and "f-commerce" (e-commerce on Facebook) is factoring heavily in their future plans. Comcast (Arguably) delivers better customer service on Twitter than customers can get on the phone, leading its CEO to proclaim " It has changed the culture of our company."
YouTube has been the springboard for corporate crises when customers or employees have become disgruntled, but it also helped a geek wit a lab coat and a miniscule marketing budget increase Blendtec's sales by 700 percent nad land an appearance on the Today Show. In fact, viral video can provide such a powerful marketing boost, brands were vying to hire Ted Williams, the homeless guy with a "golden voice", to be their next announcer. His nearly overnight gig for a Kraft Mac & Cheese commercial turned into a feel-good moment that landed the brand on the viral video chart.
Obviously, social media inspires a whole lot more passion and interaction than the typical corporate website. Connected consumers want to share their opinions, they look to "friends" and subkect matter experts for advice, and their confidence in corporate brand-speak is way down the list.
It's only natural to speculate whether or not this is " The end of the destination Web era" as Steve Rubel, a VP at Edelman Global, did not long ago. And in that case, must marketers cede a significant part of corporate branding, loyalty and lead-generation to websites they don't own?
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